You Never Know

March 8, 2019

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You Never Know

Every Monday, Sawtooth School for Visual Art visits the Family House for an evening of Arts and Wellness. This program gives guests a creative way to heal outside of the hospital, and to help their minds rest from their illness or their loved one’s illness. Patients and caregivers use this time to talk and laugh.

Bill Gramley, who leads painting sessions, shares this story:

“The last time I was there, a couple Mondays ago, I was sitting at a table with a couple to find out what they were dealing with. Suddenly a large guy named George got up and decided to engage everyone with a couple Gospel songs. He had a wonderful, strong voice and began to sing a song about looking on the bright side of life. Most people, still eating their supper, joined in. His second song was more people know and could sing along with easily, “Amazing Grace.” Well, I didn’t know if this performance was something SECU provides from time to time or what. I then realized it was his own initiative. When he drew a picture with me, I found out he was there for medical treatments in the days ahead. It was one of those surprises, a spontaneous deed of kindness and comfort, a way for him to deal with his anxiety and simply share himself. I was glad I was there.”

Vicki, who leads the wool beading sessions, describes one evening:

“We had a large lively group! It was an eclectic group of women, girls. We even had a 3-year old boy felting with the help of his grandma. Everyone was joking around and cutting up with each other as though they had been best friends forever as they wet-felted colorful wool fibers into beads and made necklaces. I remember one lady in particular was so outgoing and friendly, she was really the life of the party, and stayed until everyone else had left. As she was helping me pack up, she shared with me that her daughter was in the hospital and had just had surgery that day and was in intensive care; she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. I was so glad that I was able to provide a little distraction for this worried mom; you just never know what’s going on in someone’s life.”

Martina, who leads mask making sessions, shares this story:

“One of the residents of the SECU house created this mask in memory of her girlfriend who passed away during a car accident, in which both of them were involved. The left purple side of the mask is for the friend who passed, the two birds are the girls, the right yellow side is for the survivor, and the flowers are for her strength and for fighting for the dreams they had together. This was very powerful and I wanted to share that with you.”